In The Night, There Was A Scream
by UgeheuerInDasFinsternis
Summary: Alfred, Arthur, Matthew and Ivan decided to rebuild an old house for them to live in. Something about it is odd and gives Matthew the creeps when he starts seeing things. Plus, Ivan keeps getting sicker everyday. "I hope he will be okay."
1. New House

Hey! Me again with a new story. I know, I'm sorry... I need to update the others but this just seemed like an amazing idea...

Also, I'm sorry if this chapter here goes by way too fast, like everything is rushed... It's a simple introduction and the other chapters will be more "action-y", know what I mean?

Anyway, I hope you enjoy what I have so far!

Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia or any of it's characters! I only own this story plot!

* * *

**Chapter 1**

**Introduction  
**

"This place is definitely going to need a lot of work…" Alfred stood in the living room of the house his friends and him have bought to remodel and live in. It's apparently over a 100 years old, standing in the middle of a forest. A gravel road stretched out for miles until it reached another un-used road. It was about an hour and a half to reach the city each of them has lived in for a few years.

It hasn't been used for god knows how long.

It literally has no color on the outside other than brown, but on the inside, the walls were an off-white, stains covered every wall, each of different color. But the most prominent was a brown, one each of them recognized as not being a normal stain from age…

Almost every corner of the walls held a cobweb that hung low to the floor, an old molding couch was flipped and what looked like slices from a knife covered most of the cushions.

In the kitchen, broken plates littered the ground, the doors to the cabinets were ripped off or hanging by a single hinge, the table in the dining room was upside down, one of the legs removed so only long sharp splinters remained.

Alfred, Arthur, Matthew and Ivan walked up the creaky stairs to reach the second level. The groan of each step echoed throughout the house, making Alfred's shoulders tremble with fear.

Matthew's foot fell through one of the wooden steps and he let out a yell, only to be caught in the strong arms of the Russian who set him at the step above the one he fell through, "Be careful, da,"

Matthew nodded and they continued up.

Once at the top of the stairs, they came to a narrow hallway, two doors stood on each side. They went to investigate.

Matthew and Ivan went to the farthest room to their left, it had no door. A bed lay against the wall, it was twin, only one mattress, it was cut into and springs protruded out of the bedding.

The window was broken and the curtain was shredded. Glass littered the floor and a hole was in the wall, as if punched through.

Arthur and Alfred went into the first door on the right; there was nothing inside but only chains with cuffs at the end of each one. More brown spots painted the walls, looking redder than the others.

The window was bolted over with blocks of wood, and brown/red footprints led to the doorway the two stood at.

All four of them were beginning to have doubts about even attempting to fix the place up but it was a challenge, one they were willing to take.

The four of them, together, checked the bathroom. Nothing was inside, save for a large bathtub. The shower curtain was torn off a few hooks, but was covering the majority of the tub.

Alfred, becoming brave for this one moment, walked forward and moved the curtain only to gasp, bringing a hand over his mouth. The others looked and just about did the same thing.

Inside the tub was faded red blood, it coated the walls of the tub, leaving no white, maggots sat inside, eating at the remains of the red liquid.

Matthew backed out of the bathroom; tears were in his eyes, _what happened here?_

Ivan walked out to comfort him, bringing him into a hug when the other two walked out as well.

"Well, I'm not giving up on this place." Alfred stated, looking around the walls.

"The house is a bloody pigsty, but I suppose we can fix it up." Arthur looked to Matthew who gripped at the Russian's arms.

"Okay…" He whispered, nodding in agreement. He didn't like the way it looked, so he supposed the only way to change that was to make it look better.

Ivan nodded, his usual smile gone, replaced by thin lips in a straight line. "What about the other door?" He asked and everybody turned to the last door on the right, nobody made a move to open it so Ivan slowly let go of Matthew, running his fingers through the blond frizz before walking to the door.

He tried turning the doorknob, but it didn't budge. He shoved at it, it still didn't move. The door looked newer than the rest; it was made of some metal. It was locked from the inside.

"Back up, let the hero handle this," Alfred rolled up his sleeves, rubbing his hands together before he ran at the door, using his shoulder to push against it. It still didn't move and the American rubbed at his shoulder. "Damn door…"

"Maybe we should leave it… Get started on the downstairs…" Matthew suggested and the others nodded in agreement.

"Phew," Alfred said, heaving the couch outside with Ivan. He popped his neck and stretched his arms above his head, "What time is it?"

"A little passed 2."

"Let's eat some lunch!" Alfred cheered, walking back into the house to get the others. The four walked outside towards the American's hummer where he left the lunchboxes.

Matthew's cheeks had black soot over them, as did Arthur's since they both were cleaning out the kitchen while the other two were fixing up the living room.

Alfred munched on a hamburger he had picked up from McDonald's on the way there, Arthur and Matthew ate a chicken sandwich while Ivan ate nothing, he only pulled out a canteen of vodka and was slurping on that.

They sat in silence, occasionally looking back at the house and groaning inwardly to what they still need to continue till it got too late and had to go back to the motel.

Once done eating, Alfred rubbed his hands together, "Okay, let's finish cleaning it out then we can paint the walls tomorrow. Sound good, dudes?"

"Yeah," Matthew smiled at him,

"I guess," Arthur rolled his eyes.

"Da," Ivan mimicked the Canadian's smile and they went back inside to finish off the cleaning.

Matthew threw more plates and glass into the garbage bag as Arthur did the same, but he eventually got up, walked over to the cabinets and started to tear the doors to them off.

"What are you doing?"

"We need new ones anyway, right?" He said, leaving to grab the screwdriver and began to screw off the cabinets themselves.

…..

Ivan and Alfred finished the living room after wiping the spider webs down so they decided to go upstairs and remove the bed.

They heaved it up after Ivan moved his scarf out of harms way and they began their descend down the stairs. Ivan was careful to avoid the hole in the stairs since he was walking backwards with the bed in hand.

Alfred walked over it and they were both a little scared one would slip and fall but pulling through, they got down to the final level and brought it outside, throwing it in the bin with the couch and other trash that had been brought out of the house.

They removed the chains, and decided they would leave the tub and bring over other friends tomorrow to help with the house so they went back to the motel.

* * *

Matthew dried his hair as he got out of the bathroom from taking a shower and sighed, sitting on the bed where the Russian lay, reading a book. On closer inspection, the Canadian identified it as being a bible.

"Why are you reading a bible?"

"It's the only thing to really do in here, da."

"I thought you didn't believe in God, though,"

"I don't, probably never will. I just enjoy reading about whatever man came up with this," he chuckled, never taking his eyes off the bible.

Matthew rolled his eyes, leaning back on the bed and looked towards Ivan. Violet eyes looked away from the bible and looked into indigo, "Da?" He asked, tilting his head a bit to the side.

"Mm… Nothing." The Canadian shrugged his shoulders. He was a little nervous being alone with the Russian, sure they share a room with Alfred and Arthur but they left to go get some food for dinner. But it was late, so they were probably just going to go to bed after they got some food into their stomachs.

Ivan put the book down on the side table and pulled Matthew close, both now resting on their sides. "Are you sure?" He asked, gently pressing his nose to the others.

"Yeah, Vanya." Ivan smiled at the use of his childhood nickname and pressed a small kiss to the Canadian's lips right when Alfred decided to work on his great timing and burst through the door,

"Oh jeez, guys, no! I don't want to see this," Alfred put his hands over his eyes, inching over to the small table that stood in the room to put down the pizza he had picked up.

Arthur walked in after with crossed arms and a scowl, "it was just a kiss," he said to the American,

"But Iggy, it's gross seeing that commie bastard French my bro!"

"We weren't even using tongue!" Matthew shouted, throwing his pillow at his twin brother. The American chuckled, catching the pillow and setting it down.

"C'mon guys, foods done."

Ivan got up and walked over, Matthew in tow. Once all of them were seated, the Russian picked up his slice of meatlovers pizza,

"What is this slop?" He asked, glaring at the American.

"It's called pizza. And it's not slop! This shit is the shit!"

"Not really."

"Awww, Iggy"

Matthew tuned everyone out, taking small bites of his pizza. He had a really bad feeling setting in the pit of his gut. He didn't like it at all. It's been sitting there ever since they got to the house. It just didn't seem right…

* * *

Francis, Ludwig, Feliciano and Antonio stood before the house with Alfred, Arthur, Matthew and Ivan.

"Mon dieu! This place looks so disgusting!" Francis exclaimed.

"Frog…" Arthur whispered

"Well, let's get this done." Toni smiled and started towards the house with two buckets of white paint. All the walls have been wiped down and the floors were swept so it was now ready for some paint!

Everyone followed after the Spaniard; Ludwig, Ivan and Alfred went up the stairs to get the tub out of the house while the others started with painting the living room.

Alfred had left the radio in his hummer on; it blasted and sounded throughout the house. Giving everybody a beat to dance to as they did their thing.

It was getting dark; every room was painted by all the helping hands. They walked outside towards the hummer, stretching out their kinked muscles.

Tomorrow they had decided to bring in the furniture and put up the cabinets in the kitchen.

* * *

The bad feeling Matthew had still hadn't disappeared, also he noticed a change in Ivan. He was acting weird, not talking as much as he used to, that childish smile rarely showed itself and he would stay up for hours, getting maybe a little bit of sleep.

The Canadian was worried for him, he was paler than normal so he believed he was sick but knowing the Russian, he'd lie and say he was fine.

That night, he lied in bed next to Ivan facing his back. He hadn't been able to sleep so he whispered "Vanya… Are you awake?"

"Da…" He slowly turned around enough to look at Matthew and reached out, moving the blond hair from his face. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. But what about you? Are you feeling okay? Is something wrong?"

"I am fine. Nothing's wrong. Why do you ask?"

"Oh…Nothing." Matthew shrugged his shoulders the best he could and cuddled up to the Russian, smiling faintly when strong arms wrapped around him.

"I've just been tired, my sunflower. Don't worry about me," Ivan whispered, pressing his lips to Matthew's forehead before he finally fell asleep.

* * *

Two weeks later, the four had finally finished moving their things in. Refurnishing every room, giving them king sized beds, the bathroom was removed of the god awful bathtub and replaced with a new one and a shower. The carpenters had come in, leaving beige carpet on the ground. The plumbers also came, giving them better running water and helped bring in the toilet and shower head and sinks.

Matthew put in his last shirt in the dresser on his side of the room and set his hands on his hips.

"Done." He said happily. The house looked so much better; the outside was even fixed up. It looked as good as new!

He was still worried for Ivan though. He seemed to be getting worse, weaker in fact. His eyes were outlined with black circles from lack of sleep, his face was pale and his cheeks were rosy, he had to sit down from standing too long and he kept getting cold. It was the end of summer, and he was wearing a large coat, scarf and thick pants.

Right now, he was laying in the king sized bed that belonged to both him and Matthew; he was under the blankets, still staring at the ceiling. Unable to sleep,

"Do you need anything, Vanya?"

"Nyet, I am fine." He said and smiled at the Canadian.

Matthew nodded and went to the door, "I'll be back in a few, okay?" Ivan nodded in response so the Canadian walked out, closing the door behind him and skipped down the new stairs to the kitchen where Alfred and Arthur were hanging out.

Alfred was cooking a hamburger to eat while Arthur sat at the table, reading a newspaper and sipping on some tea.

"Is he getting any better, lad?" Arthur looked up from the paper towards Matthew,

"No… I'm afraid not, I don't know what's wrong with him."

"Maybe we should call in a doctor?"

"Yeah, you're right. I'll call one tomorrow."

The Brit nodded, looking back to his newspaper.

Tonight was going to be their first night and Matthew was terrified. He was still a little scared of the house from what it looked like before and the feeling in his stomach still hadn't gone away.

He got a glass of water and ran up the steps, taking two at a time. Once in the room, he handed Ivan the water who gladly took it.

"I'm going to call the doctor tomorrow." Matthew stated and Ivan looked at him, a blank expression on his face as he set the water on the nightstand.

"Nyet, I am fine."

"No you aren't… You can't fool me, look at you!"

"This? It doesn't matter." He pointed to his pasty skin, "I will be better soon."

"That isn't now, though. Please, Vanya… Please," Matthew begged, sitting on the bed next to the Russian.

Ivan sighed, "Fine…" He complied, holding out his hands for Matthew to lay with him. Matthew closed his eyes; resting his head right next to Ivan's and fell fast asleep listening to the calm breaths of the Russian.

* * *

"_No, please, stop!" Someone begged, sitting on their knees before another. His arms were chained to the wall behind him and he pulled at them. "Don't hurt me…" _

"_I am sorry but I can't do that." A smirk pasted itself on the others face as he brings up the whip and strikes it down onto the chained down mans face –_

"NO!" Matthew jolted up, sweat dripped from his forehead and he wiped it away. He felt a tug on his shirt and looked down to see Ivan looking concerned.

"Nightmare?" He asked.

Matthew nodded in response, getting off the bed he looked back to the Russian, "I'll… be back, I have to get a glass of water."

Without waiting for a response he walked out of the room and down the stairs to the kitchen. He turned on the light and froze. The shadow under the table was producing a pale limp hand with blood covering it.

It lay on the floor, unmoving. He couldn't see the rest of the body, all he could see was the outline of it and he couldn't move.

The hand twitched and finally Matthew came to life, he screamed, staring at the hand and ran out of the kitchen. Alfred ran down the stairs and grabbed onto his brother.

"What is it? What?" He tried to speak over the yelling. Matthew stopped screaming and broke into sobs,

"S-someone is in the ki-kitchen… T-they are under the table, there w-was b-blo-blood…" Matthew stuttered, holding onto his twin.

"I'll go look,"

"NO! Please, no. Stay here. Don't leave me." The Canadian begged, pressing his face into the others nightshirt. Arthur ran down the stairs, followed by Ivan who looked bewildered.

"Matthew, are you okay?" He asks and the shortest of them runs over to his lover, hugging him.

"He said he saw someone in the kitchen under the table with blood."

Ivan gasped, "Is there?"

"I don't know yet." Alfred said and walked into the kitchen and looked under the table. Nothing was there. It was empty. He moved the chairs, looked in the cupboard, the cabinets under the sink and even above it but there was nothing. "Mattie, are you sure you didn't just imagine it?"

"N-no, it was there! I swear! The hand even moved…"

"It might be repercussions of your nightmare," Ivan suggested, moving to the kitchen and looking in.

"B-but…"

"It's best to just go back to sleep, lad." Arthur interjected, also looking around.

But there was still nothing.

Matthew nodded slowly, "I'm going to get a glass of water…" He repeated from earlier and went to get one but jumped at every noise he heard. Alfred pushed him aside gently,

"I'll get it, okay? Go back upstairs." Matthew nodded and followed the Russian up the stairs to their room when moments later Alfred walked in with Arthur right behind him so he wasn't alone. The American was the most superstitious of them all.

Alfred said goodnight and left with Arthur to go back to sleep. Matthew chugged the water, sitting on the bed, his shoulders were shaking. _Maybe… maybe it was just from the dream… Ivan's right…_

Once he lay down on the bed to the now sleeping Russian, he stared at the ceiling.

A groan echoed throughout the room and he froze, not even attempting to breathe. It was a groan of pain and it came from under their bed. Ivan didn't even stir, but Matthew heard it perfectly.

_I'm imagining it. This isn't real…_

He watched the mirror, staring at it when it fogged over and he could almost see another face in it and screamed.


	2. It's Okay To Be Afraid

****I'm so happy with the feedback for the first chapter! Thank you to everyone who reviewed, favorited and alerted! This made me so happy.

I really hope this one is good, I wrote it all in one go.

Enjoy lovelies ~

* * *

**Chapter 2**

**Day 5**

_He lies in a cage, in the dark, alone. Curling up to himself, he started shaking from the cold. It was probably winter by now, the house held no heat._

_He swallowed hard, looking up to the top of the cage, it was small and cramped. He hated being alone, he hated knowing even his own brother had forgotten about him… His captor made sure he knew. _

_He couldn't move his arm, every breath burned and his throat was dry. _

_He had long given up on trying getting away, he tries not to scream or cry anymore, he doesn't want to give his captor that pleasure. _

_He knew he was going to die here. He just wondered when the man will finally put him at rest. _

_The dim light came on and he tried turning to get a look but even the yellow light burned his eyes, causing him to squint. His left eye held a black circle and both of them were rimmed red from crying too much and from being in the dark for too long. _

_The man walked up to the cage, undoing the lock and opening, pulling the leash that was around the others neck. The beaten man didn't move; he didn't want to be a subject to his beatings anymore. _

"_Come, now," he said, pulling the leash hard enough to choke him and force him out of the cage. _

_The man coughed once the leash wasn't choking him anymore and he was out of the cage. He was thirsty, he needed water…_

"_Get on your knees" the taller of the two commanded. The leashed man obeyed, looking up into the others eyes that contained nothing but sick, evil pleasure. _

_The man backed away, taking out the knife he was holding. The leashed man turned away, looking to the ground. _

_The captor looked at him in disgust, bringing up his boot, he put it under the others chin and brought it up to look him in the eyes, "Do not look away from me…" _

_He removed the boot and then brought it back once more, only to collide with the others face, causing him to cry out and hold his cheek when he fell to the floor. _

"_Pathetic piece of shit." He giggled, loving the sight of the smaller man sprawled on the floor, broken. _

_He kicked him over onto his back then straddled him, slowly caressing down his cheek softly, gently…_

_Then he grabbed his chin, pushing his head to the right then taking the knife, pressing the blade against the pale, scar less cheek._

"_So perfect…" He murmured, pressing harder, slicing down. The injured male flinched and squeezed his eyes shut, grinding his teeth. _

_He tried getting away from the knife but the hand holding onto his chin kept him from even attempting it. _

_He moved the knife away, watching the blood flow down the pale cheek. He brought his face down to the wound, peeking out his tongue and lapping up some blood. _

_Smiling, he pulled back, wiping the blood that was on his lower lip. "Mmm…" His hand that was on the others chin let go but then very lightly, he trailed his hand over the others lips, then nose, and then he circled his index finger around the injured mans right eye. _

"_You have such beautiful eyes…"_

_The shorter ones breathing picked up, he knew this sweetness wouldn't last long at all. His personality changes went by so fast, the kindness rarely showed itself and lasted barely a minute. _

_The one in charge bent down, pressing his lips softly to the others but when he pulled back, that evil look was back._

_He was right, the nails of the other dug into the skin below his eye and he flinched before two fingers pressed over his eye gently,_

"_I wish I had eyes like yours." He growled, and then began to press the two fingers into the side of his eye, digging inside,_

_The shorter one cried out, clutching the hand, but he didn't push it away. He learned long ago not to deny the other anything, it would only get worse. _

_He curled his fingers inside and began to pull out the right eye. The person below him struggled and gasped, tears running out from his left eye. That eye was squeezed shut, and he felt the others jaw tense. So with one last strong tug, the eye popped out and he held it into his hand, staring at it while his other hand went over the now bleeding hole in the others face. _

_The now one eyes man gasped, breathing hard, now only one tear ran down his cheek, mixed with blood. His lip began to bleed as well, the aftermath of biting it from being in that much pain. _

"_And soon… I will"_

* * *

Matthew Williams sat at the kitchen table, shaking. He was once again alone in the house with just Ivan, but the Russian was upstairs sleeping. The doctor had come the day before; Ivan doesn't have a fever, sore throat, or anything else. So he took a sample of blood and said he will call back in a couple of days with the results.

The Canadians nightmares have increased, showing two people that he can never identify. The eyes, mouth and nose were blurred out and he could barely make out the color of their hair.

They kept getting worse, each time it was a different scene, but there was always blood. Always.

He stared at the plate of dinner before him, he had made it, and it was two pancakes. Breakfast for dinner. He hadn't felt like making anything else. It was about 8, it was dark outside and he was so tired…

He pushed the plate of pancakes away and put his head down on his arms, closing his eyes and fell asleep.

…..

Jolting awake, he looked around the room, the light was off and he figured Alfred and Arthur had come home because he was now lying on the couch, guess they were too lazy to bring him up the stairs.

He slowly sat up and looked at the clock above the TV; it was closing in on 3 AM.

Matthew started to get up but felt a force against him and was pushed back on the couch. He looked around, searching to see if anyone was in the room. But there was no one.

He heard a groan and the floor creaked under some kind of weight to his right. He looked, but still, no one.

"I'm hearing things…" He whispered to himself, chuckling half heartedly.

Seeing a flash of white, he gasped, pulling his feet onto the couch, pressing his knees to his chest and searched the room, looking for that white flash again.

He looked to where he heard another creak, this time; it was the door to the kitchen. It opened slowly; the light in that room was on.

He stared at the door opening, waiting for something to happen. He flinched back away from a plate that was thrown out of the door and hit the wall opposite of the kitchen.

He was too scared to scream, move, or say anything. He was frozen.

He stared inside the kitchen and couldn't believe his eyes when the doors to the cabinets began to open and close rapidly, almost laughing at him; mocking.

On the wall in the kitchen, he saw a shadow of a person. Finding his bearings, he got up to go investigate.

"Alfred…?" He whispered, _it better not be him! I'll kill him if it is… This has gone too far…_

Once he was in the kitchen, the shadow was gone and no one was inside. The cabinets that were still moving stopped, a few were left open while some glided to shutting.

He was about to step out of the kitchen when he heard a noise, like a footstep, so looking back he didn't see anything and the light went out.

A scream echoed into the kitchen, but it wasn't Matthews. It was inhuman, causing the hair on the back of his neck to rise, the blood in his body seemed to almost freeze.

Animals around the house stopped moving, afraid of what was happening in the house.

Matthew clamped his hands over his eyes and shut his eyes, screaming with whatever it was.

The other screaming stopped before a small groan floated in the air and everything was still. The light went back on but the Canadian was still screaming, hands over ears and eyes still shut.

He felt a hand go over his mouth and he jumped, trying to pull it off and got away, staring into wide blue eyes.

"What was that?" Alfred almost stuttered, looking around the room.

Arthur also appeared, "Why did you scream?"

"I didn't at first! Something screamed at me, I don't- it- I'm…" He tried to catch his breath, "I-I'm scared…"

Alfred pulled his brother into a hug and stroked his hair, "It's okay to be scared Mattie," Then he whispered into his ear, "I'll protect you."

Matthew smiled and pulled away from his brother.

"What happened here?" Arthur said, pointing to the broken plate on the ground after he turned on the living room light.

Matthew didn't want to tell them, he was too scared to relive what just happened so he shook his head.

"Alright. Well, go to sleep, lad. I'll clean it up in the morning, okay?"

Matthew nodded and was led upstairs to his room by his brother and once inside, he said goodnight to Alfred and went to the bed. Ivan was awake but didn't ask anything, only wrapped up the smaller one into his arms then fell fast asleep.

But the blond couldn't fall back asleep. He was still shaking; his eyes darted all over the room, lingering just slightly on the corners. He wanted to feel safe, he was always safe in the others strong arms…

But he didn't feel that way now…

He felt a cold breeze by his left ear and a small, deep whisper,

"_It's okay to be afraid…"_


	3. The Bathtub

****I feel pretty cool to be updating so quickly, but so many ideas so little time! The next chapter will probably be up today as well. I already started on it. I really hope this one came out good!

Thank you so much to everybody who is reading this story!

Enjoy:)

* * *

**Chapter 3**

**Day 10**

The supernatural activities had just about stopped and Matthew was very happy about that. But he was still afraid of the dark that something bad would happen.

Ivan hadn't improved but he hadn't gotten any worse, either. But there was no helping him, the doctor hasn't even called yet!

The Canadian was getting so irritated with this; he needed Ivan to get better _now._ Not in a month or two, _now!_

Matthew had gotten home late from work, finding that everybody was already asleep but a lamp was lighting up the living room and he thanked Arthur for being kind enough to leave it on for him. He left it on and went up the stairs to the bedroom and without changing his clothes, being too tired; he plopped on the bed and under the covers. Suddenly, he felt really cold…

He began to hear moaning from under him but didn't move.

Then from under the bed, he hears nails being caught on wood as if someone was being pulled out from under it and that moaning turned into loud wailing as an invisible body was being dragged around. There were panicked footsteps like someone had broken free and then loud thundering steps like someone was running. The door slams open and almost off its hinges. The wall was dented by the force of the slam.

Matthew pulled his head under the covers and pressed close to Ivan who hadn't even stirred once from the loud slam of the door against the wall.

Finally, the sound of the running footsteps faded away along with the dying whimpers that are suddenly cut off.

The Canadian trembled, not able to think of what to do and he didn't want to get up and close the door in case whatever had opened it came back.

So, pressed up against the Russian and head under the covers, he began to feel tired. Like all the energy was sucked right out of him so he fell into an uneasy sleep.

…..

"_No, no, let me go!" The teenager struggled, trying to get away from the larger man. But it was no use._

_A bandage was wrapped around his head, covering his lost right eye, the white of the bandage was died red and the cut on his left cheek was just beginning to scab over. _

_The both of them were out in the middle of the woods, going to only god knows where. The younger had no idea and was scared out of his mind. _

_He never used to be this way, he was happy… But this man who was dragging him against the ground by the cuffs on his hands had broken him. _

_It was nighttime, but the injured man had no idea what time or even what day it was. He doesn't know how long he's been in captivity; it could have been over a year for all he knows. _

_The youngest grunted when the rocks, glass and twigs on the ground cut into his back, making him bleed once again. The captor usually would go a week without hurting him, just for him to build back up the blood, even give him food and water to help… Just to keep him alive longer, to torture him. But he didn't have the guts to kill himself, he couldn't because he's tried and he faltered at the last moment. He was caught by the other and beaten so hard until he passed out from the pain. _

_Finally, they made it to a small shed out far in the woods, it looked broken down but still in use. The larger one opened the door to it and threw the other inside. He landed on the ground and groaned, arching his back and rolling on his side. _

_A boot stomped on his side and he hissed in pain, but that was all, he kept his eyes closed. He didn't want to see what horrible torture method the other had come up with this time. _

_He was flipped back onto his back and lifted bridal style off the ground. He felt he was being moved to another side of the shed then was lowered into something; it wasn't concrete like the ground. It felt hard and rough; he opened his eyes just in time to see a wooden lid be put over the top._

_He held his breath as he heard the lock click on the now sealed coffin. _

"_NO!" He yelled and began banging on the lid when he heard the door to the shed open and shut. "Get me out! Get me out!" _

_The other sat down on a chair outside of the shed, taking out a water bottle and drank from it. Smiling at the screams coming from inside. Oh, how he loved those screams. _

"_Let me out…" He choked, his arms already tired from hitting the wood. He lowered them and crossed them over his chest, shivering. It was still freezing outside; he hated the dark, the cold, being alone and most of all… Confined spaces…_

_The cage was fine, because he was in a large room and could see around. But this? No. He couldn't take it. _

_His breathing became heavy as his eye darted around in the dark. He tried pushing the lid once more; it didn't budge so he tried rolling over. That didn't work, the space was too small. Only enough room to lay on his back and completely straight. He sobbed, closing his eye tight. _

"_Please…" He begged, normally he wouldn't. But this was too much. His mind began to shut down, not wanting to cope with the situation. His heart pounded in his ears, making it the only thing he could hear over his erratic breathing. _

_He tried to speak again but the words got stuck in his throat. Everything about him stopped, even his breathing. He was terrified and couldn't get himself to calm down. He heard a violin begin to play outside the shed. It was loud, and he flinched from a screeching noise it made but it went back to normal. Playing a happy tune, one he recognized. _

_He calmed down a little, enough to pick up his breathing so he didn't die. He felt suffocated, his breathing came in gasps. There were no holes in the coffin and he had used up all the air it seemed. He tried to take in a deep breath, but it didn't come. _

_He then held it once more, lying motionless. The music outside stopped abruptly, and he heard footsteps coming back inside, then the slam of the door to the shed. _

"_Don't tell me you've died already?" Then a chuckle. _

_He didn't move, he kept his eye opened, waiting for the coffin to be opened. But it didn't happen. An axe came down on the top of the coffin, poking through and cutting his stomach. _

_The axe was removed then it came down again, almost touching his nose, _

"_STOP!"_

* * *

Matthew Williams slowly opened his eyes. Staring at the ceiling, he still felt drained. But he also needed to go to the bathroom, he turned to go look at the clock, it was almost 3 AM.

He got up out of bed and dragged his feet out of the bedroom and down the hall. The floor was cold and he shivered from the cool contact of the air.

He yawned, stretching his arms above his head once he reached the bathroom door. Grasping the cold doorknob and trying to turn it, it didn't give. Thinking for a moment someone was in there; he waited but then jumped when he heard nails dig into the door on the other side.

_What's going on in there?_

Matthew winces and grimaces at the sound of wood being scraped away as those nails dragged down the door. He holds the gold doorknob righter, his back stiffening and the hair on the back of his neck rising as he once more tried opening the door.

On the other side, there was a whimper; it turned into weeping and scraping against the floor. The Canadian swallowed, not sure if he needs to use the restroom anymore.

He was pushed away from the door by an unnatural force and the knob was out of his grasp. Slowly, the door creaks open, the light was on but no one was using the bathroom from what he could see. Peering in passed the door, he sees the bathtub filled with bright red blood, trails of it leaking over its edge. A pale hand hangs over the edge, wood embedded under the bleeding nails and slender fingers. The long pale arm hung limp, blood dripping lazily to the ground in a growing crimson puddle from the tips of the fingers.

Matthew gasped, forcing himself to turn away and he stared at the sink. Indigo eyes were wide in fear and disgust; he had never seen so much blood in his life. His breathing became irregular as he looks at the door as it slowly shuts. The wood was clean and devoid of any blood and scratches; save for eight crescent holes.

He forces his head in the direction of the tub and sees that it is clean of the blood and body. There is absolutely nothing… No bleeding white hand, no tub filled with bright red blood… Nothing.

Everything was quiet, his breathing stopped and he could barely hear his heartbeat before he fell to the ground; unconscious.

…..

Alfred woke up in the morning, sat up, stretched his arms above his head and yawned before it was cut short and he grabbed his crotch. It felt like his bladder was about to explode.

He got up and ran out of the room and towards the bathroom, flinging the door open, he ran inside, only to trip and just barely miss his face on the edge of the tub. Looking down, he sees Matthew curled in a ball, eyes wide and he was chewing on his fingernails.

Arthur walks over when he heard Alfred fall; he wanted to make sure he didn't seriously injure himself. He saw the Canadian and stated,

"Maybe we should take this more seriously…"


	4. The Name

****Ah, yeah, I'm sorry for it being so short but I hope it came out good! The next one may be out today or tomorrow, depends on how much I type.

Thank you for reading and your kind reviews!

* * *

**Chapter 4**

**Next Day**

Alfred, Matthew and Ludwig sat around a table waiting for Arthur to get back from the attic with what he said will help with what needs to be done. It was 15 minutes till 3 and all of them were extremely nervous. The German had to be called in to replace Ivan who was too sick to get out of bed to be the forth person at the table. The others had said they were too busy and Ludwig happened to be free this day but was grumbling about having his sleeping schedule messed up for staying up so late.

No lights were on except for 3 candles on the table; their three faces glowed in the small flickering light. Matthew was terrified; he kept jumping at the smallest of sounds. He didn't want the ghost to pop out of nowhere and hurt him or the others.

Finally, Arthur came back with a box in hand and set it on the floor, picking something out of it and setting it in the middle of the table for everyone to see.

"An ouija board? Iggy, this isn't one of your imaginary friends."

"Just… Trust me, okay? This'll work." The Brit responded, scowling at the American who had stuck his tongue out.

Matthew shook his head at the childish behavior but straightened up when Arthur sat down across from him. Ludwig looked uncomfortable to be there, Alfred looked like this was going to end up bad, Arthur looked serious and Matthew just looked scared.

The Canadian stared at the flat wooden surface of the Ouija board. It had letters from A to Z, numbers from 1 to 0 with a Yes and No. His indigo eyes scanned the Sun and Moon symbol before it finally landed on the planchette, which would help the ghost communicate with them.

He felt the knees of Ludwig and Alfred on either side of him hit his own, Matthew held a notepad to write down anything that would be spelled out. Arthur reached out his right hand, pressing his index and middle finger onto the planchette and slowly moved it in circles around the board then motioned for the rest to put their two fingers on it as well.

Afterwards, Arthur concentrated on what he was going to say then spoke, "Hello… My name is Arthur; with me are Matthew, Ludwig and Alfred. If you would join us… We'd like to ask you a few questions."

Nothing happened, only silence filled the room and the flame on the candles flickered. Matthew felt the hair on the back of his neck rise and straightened his spine, the room started to give him an eerie feeling.

Alfred, seeming to be the bravest one at the moment, spoke up,

"Are you dead because you were murdered?"

He looked around the room, looking to see if anything would be moved to show a sign of a ghost being there. He was also really scared, probably the most frightened of all of them but he held his breath and kept himself steady. Suddenly, each of their eyes turned to the hands on the planchette where now a pressure was beginning to build. It felt like a hard steel boot was slowly applying weight to their fingers. The room grew colder as the pain became too much for any of them to bear so they jerked their now bruised hands back. Then, the piece was picked up and slammed down onto 'yes'.

Each of them gasped, surprised that it actually worked and that the ghost even responded. So, quick to continue before the spirit did…

"Did you die in peace?" Ludwig asked and the piece flipped into the air and landed on 'no'. "Then you died in agony?" He corrected and the piece slowly, as if sadly, slid onto the 'yes'.

Arthur asked the question that the others were too afraid to ask, "…How were you killed?"

There was a moment of silence like the spirit was contemplating on telling them when the piece began to move. Matthew picked up the pen and notebook and began writing what was being spelled. When the movement stopped, he read what he had written, trying to keep from stuttering,

"Rape. Screams. Pain. Suffocation. Whips. Knife. Blood. Darkness."

They remained quiet, unable to speak. None of them knew how to respond to such an answer… The ghost had gone through so much; Matthew wondered what expression it held if he could see it.

"W-what… What's your name?" Each pair of eyes turned on the Canadian, surprised he spoke, even Matthew was. But, hesitantly, the ghost went to spelling out a name, almost scared.

_G... I… L… _

"T-this isn't funny anymore, Arthur. Stop," Ludwig spoke up, staring straight at the Brit,

"I'm not doing anything, though!"

_E… R… T… _

"Gilbert?" Alfred asked and pressed a hand over his mouth, looking at the blond German.

"Don't fucking joke about this!" Ludwig stood up, his chair flying back behind him. The air once again grew cold once the hostility grey in the icy blue eyes of the German, "Why the hell would you do this?"

"I didn't do anything, Ludwig! I wouldn't joke about something like that!"

"He was my brother! I want no part of this!" He stormed out of the house, slamming the door shut. Everything was quiet and the three tried to see the spirit once they could see their breath.

A moan of agony sounded throughout the room, the candles went out and the table was flipped. They heard a crash and jumped when a hole developed in the wall like the spirit had punched through it.

Loud footsteps ran towards the front door, it flung open but didn't close as everything finally became still and the temperature went back to normal.

"This… This… I wasn't expecting this to happen…" Arthur said, staring at the open front door and looking into the night.


	5. Iron Cross

Agh! I'm sorry, I lied. I didn't update it right away... But I got it done quickly today, I hope it satisfies you because now I'm starting on chapter 6! It'll be amazing, as always. But, would you expect anything less?

Just kidding.

Enjoy my awesome 5th chapter~

* * *

**Chapter 5**

**Day 15**

_Bare feet ran across the forest grounds, they crunched over branches and bled from glass they have went across. _

"_Fick…" Gilbert panted as he ran as fast as he could, he had to get as far away from that house as possible. He knew something was strange about it when brought there! _

_He let out a small cry of surprise when his hoodie caught on a branch and ripped, sending him to the ground with a grunt as he bit his lip. Not registering the blood or pain, he scrambled up and pushed himself to keep running when he heard laughter from behind him. No! _No, I don't want this!_ He screamed to himself in his head. His legs were getting tired and he could feel the burning in his legs and the dryness of his throat as he panted. _

"_Nein!" He cried when he felt the other grab his arm and he spun around, punching him square in the jaw. The man let out a grunt and as Gilbert began running away again, he looked towards him with a glare that promised pain and blood. _

"_You will regret that…" _

_The albino ignored the voice echoing in the back of his mind to go back, he couldn't. He wanted to live, damn it! He saw a shed and sighed happily, maybe he could hide in it! Gilbert felt the pounding on his chest from his iron cross necklace and he gripped it in his hand when he opened the door and closed it behind him. _

_He slid down the inside of the door, kissing his iron cross then kept it clutched in his hands. It was a necklace his younger brother had given him, he adored Ludwig. He was everything to him; he set him higher than his boyfriend… Who now had apparently snapped… _

_He was brought to this old house and led inside when he was attacked; 'You will **only** be mine...' had been whispered in Gilbert's ear before he began running away. He flinched when he felt a small scratching noise on the outside of the door. _

"_Gilbert… Oh Gilbert…" The other giggled,_

"_FICK DICH!" The albino snarled, his crimson eyes then took in his surroundings and he gasped… _Oh… Oh, fuck… No…_ He thought, his eyes widening. _

"_Let me in." _

"_Nein!" _

_Gilbert got no response and sighed in relief when he heard footsteps walking away. Holding his necklace to his chest, he closed his eyes and prayed this will all be over soon. He wanted to go home, he wanted to go see his brother… He wanted away from this goddamn monster… _

_He heard footsteps running at the door but it was too late to react when it burst open and he flew to the ground, lying on his stomach. He curled immediately into a ball, hoping the other wouldn't hurt him._

_The man bent down, gripping his chin and making him look into his eyes. "Look at me, pet." Gilbert glared at him, grinding down his teeth before he spit in the others face. _

_The taller man growled, slapping the Prussian across the face, before bringing him back once more, pressing their noses together, "You will **never** do that again, fucking piece of shit!" His hand grabbed onto Gilbert's throat, tightening just enough to make the red eyed man gasp for air. He let go slightly then whispered, "Understand…?" Gilbert said nothing,_

_His hand gripped tighter than before letting no air through to his lungs. Red eyes widened as they stared at their reflection into the others eyes, barely nodding his head, the taller released. "What was that?" He sneered, _

"_Ja… Ja, I understand…" _

_A grin morphed itself on the taller's face, his hand danced down the albino's neck before it grabbed onto something, making Gilbert freeze and stop coughing. "D-don't…" _

"_Why not?" _

"_Please…" _

_The large hand tugged loosely on the iron cross, "The last thing to remember your brother…" He smiled but then it disappeared into an empty look. One that Gilbert hated to see, because he knew the other was going to do something bad… _

_Finally, the man snapped back to reality before he smirked, ripping the iron cross off, beads from the necklace breaking and falling onto the ground with small smacks. _

_He threw it at a wall of the shed, ignoring the tears running down red eyes and the pleas coming from the man below him, he turned back to the albino, _

"_You… Are… **Mine**…"_

* * *

Matthew woke up once again in the middle of the night, another dream about that shed. He was curious; he wanted to know what was up with it. Why it was so important.

But he wanted to go back to sleep, he didn't want to do anything about his curiosity till morning but then he heard whispers outside of his room door. It was two voices he didn't recognize, nor could he understand what they were saying. One voice was closer, like inside the room; leaning against the door and another was outside, whispering frantically to the other.

The Canadian sat up, looking towards the dark brown wooden door. He got up, putting on his glasses and slipping on his white slippers with a red maple leaf on top. As he stood up and walked to the front of the bed and got closer to the door, he stopped. Slowly, the door creaked open. It didn't slam nor was it forced.

He proceeded forward; the door opened all the way and hit the wall with a quiet thud. Matthew looked back to Ivan to see he was still asleep. Once looking forward, he saw two shadows. Thinking maybe it was Arthur and Alfred he walked out into the hallway. But the shadows disappeared; he was disappointed until he heard the voices again. They were descending the stairs.

He followed them down wearing only a white tank top and white fuzzy pj pants with blood red maple leaves all over them; they were a matching set with his slippers.

The voices were getting too far ahead of them so he jogged to catch up when he ended up at the back door. He was about 6 feet away from it, he watched as the golden doorknob turned slowly on its own, then opened for him. He walked through, looking out into the night sky. He stopped in his tracks when he noticed the forest in front of him. Matthew could hear crickets from inside and an owl somewhere deep inside.

He felt a small breeze almost push him to it and suddenly, the forest looked almost welcoming… So he padded along the ground, clad in slippers as he squeezed between two large trees. He looked to the ground and said nothing when he saw footprints developing in the dirt before him.

He was being led by, he believed to be, the ghost that haunted the house. So, he followed them, keeping an eye on the ground and making sure to not run into anything. A gap in the leaves above sent moonlight down to the ground in front of him and he swore he could almost see a figure of a man walking.

He couldn't make out the length of hair, the shape of the body or the clothes. All he knew is that someone was there, and they wanted to show him something. So, without hesitation, he went into the opening of the forest into a flat land where close by, stood an old shed.

The feeling of the ghost disappeared and he knew he was alone. This was the shed he saw multiple times in his dreams. The door to it was loose and was moving along with the wind, opening and closing.

Matthew watched it, pondering whether he should go inside of it or not. But he figured, he's already out here, there isn't a point in going back. Plus, he was curious anyway, so… Might as well, right?

He walked forward towards it and shot out a hand, stopping the door from the closing and went inside. A long string dangled in front of him and he pulled it, a yellow-ish light illuminated the shed, the corners were still in the darkness, but at least he was able to see for the most part.

Cobwebs hung from the ceilings, the one window was shattered and he gasped when he saw what also hung from the ceiling...

It looked like a butcher shop. Knives, saws, swords and all kinds of tools were hanging, low too. They moved slightly from the wind coming in from the now open door and hit each other, making a clanging noise in the small space.

Old blood was splattered on the floor and walls, a metal table stood in the middle of the shed, cuffs hung down to the ground from chains, blood coating them as well. A small knife dug into the middle of the table, Matthew walked up to it.

He hadn't seen it there when he first walked in, so looking down at the table, he could see a small amount of his reflection blurred in the shiny metal table. Carved into it said _'Look behind you, to your right.'_

Matthew complied, when he looked he saw something shine into his eyes and he flinched. He couldn't see what it was since it was in the shadows in the corner. But he saw a small chain with beads that have rolled off it.

The Canadian went up to it, getting down on his knees and pulled it out.

Blood and rust covered what he now held, he remembered that he had seen it somewhere…

It was an iron cross.


	6. Gilbert Beilschmidt

****Yo, I'm sorry if there are any errors at all in this chapter. I kind of zoomed through this, *dead*. I hope it came out to everybody's liking!

Thank you~

Enjoy, peoples.

* * *

**Chapter 6**

**Day 20**

Matthew Williams typed away at his laptop. Opening up , he turned around in the dark room to make sure nobody looked over his shoulder. For some reason, he just felt like someone kept looking over his shoulder, although, it wouldn't surprise him any.

Typing in his address, he waited for the page to load. Finally, he had decided to search up the history of his house. Hoping, that he will get some kind of results. He clicked on the first link and by all the words was a picture of the house, looking new before it became abandoned.

He read over the article, but nothing about any murder happening inside the house showed up. Basically, the whole thing was about the history, how it was built and all that. He sighed, irritated that he couldn't find anything so he left up his laptop and walked out of the living room to go get a drink of water.

Matthew ran a hand through his hair, pushing up his glasses as he bent down to grab a bottled water. Opening it, he took a drink and dragged his feet back into the living room where he saw keys in the keyboard being pressed.

Walking over he sat down next to the computer so he didn't sit on the spirit. That would be an odd experience.

The page was back on , the search clean except for the beginning of a name. The letters were pressed slowly, almost lazily. Once the name was done, he felt a breeze so he scooted over to in front of the computer and looked at the name.

_Gilbert Beilschmidt. _

He pressed search and the first link's header said _August 12, 2008 Disappearance, _clicking on it, he saw a picture once again to the side. It seemed to be a picture from high school, a small smirk splayed on his lips, showing one sharp tooth. His hair was practically pure white, flowing down a little passed his ears then waving outwards. The bangs were swept across his forehead and bright red eyes stared back at him through the computer.

…_This is Gilbert…_ Matthew thought, then proceeded to read the article.

_Gilbert Beilschmidt went missing on the 12th of August. Reports say he left in the morning but never came back. He is 5'9" with silver hair and red eyes, if anyone has seen…_

Matthew kept scanning over the words; Gilbert had gone missing at the age of 24. Who knows how long he had been kept before he was killed? How did he die? When did he die? The Canadian thought over these questions, furrowing his brow.

Then he remembered, Ludwig said something about Gilbert being his brother! This was his first destination; he ran over to the window and opened the curtain, letting in the sunlight. The room lit up easily; throwing on his jacket, he scribbled out a note,

_Need to do some errands. Be back soon. _

_Matthew~_

Taping it on the wall right by the door to the kitchen, he started towards the door when he remembered the shed. The necklace that was in his pocket and the coffin… He had found it right after the iron cross, but he couldn't open it. It was sealed shut with a lock and he was too afraid to pick up any of the tools to attempt and break it open.

Also, he wants to keep it a secret. He'll just have to find a way to get into it on his own.

…..

_Knock, Knock, Knock_

The Canadian stood in front of a crimson red door. A black Buick Lacrosse sat in the driveway so he knew that the German was home. He waited when he heard shuffling from behind the door then the bolt being unlocked.

The door swung open for Matthew to come face to chest with the tall blond with an icy stare, his hair already slicked back while wearing a black tank top with matching black cargo pants.

Ludwig invited Matthew in without a word and led him into the living room. Once both were sat down, the German spoke,

"What brings you here, Matthew?" His deep accented voice rang through the room,

"I… I have a question… If that's alright?" The Canadian swallowed thickly, hoping to not be kicked out once he asked.

"Ja, go ahead." Ludwig raised an eyebrow, shifting slightly,

"Um… About your brother-"

"What about him?" The blond interrupted,

"What happened to him?"

"He went missing, now if that's all-"

"No, it isn't all. Ludwig, I'm being serious."

"So am I."

"Come on! Gilbert is in that house-"

"He's dead."

"I know, but he's _there._ I've been having these nightmares about him… He shows me things; he brought me to this shed where I found this." He brought out the iron cross which made Ludwig gasp.

The German reached out a hand as if to touch it but recoiled, "T-That was in a shed?"

"Mhm… The chain to it was broken," Matthew rubbed his thumb over the top of the cross, handing it over to Ludwig who only shook his head,

"That was a gift for Gilbert. I don't want to take it back…"

Matthew nodded, "Okay…"

Ludwig looked around the living room, then scooted closer, "Alright, Matthew, I'll tell you all I know."

The Canadian looked to him and waited for him to continue,

"I remember that Gilbert had been acting strangely before the day he had disappeared. He had developed bruises almost everyday and when I asked about them, he'd shrug it off or lie about it." Ludwig took a deep breath, running his hand through his hair making it disheveled, "Don't you remember him?"

"What?"

"You knew him…"

"I did?"

"Ja, you had met him when you were only 5. He was 14 at the time with me being the same age as you. He adored you, Matthew. He would never let you out of his sight. By the time he was 19, he had complete faith that he was in love with you." He scratched the back of his head, he didn't know if he should be saying this, but he continued anyway, "But he did nothing, you were too young. But, even you acted like you loved him. You always wanted him, always. I even heard from Alfred that when you had nightmares, you'd call out for him instead of your father, mother or even brother."

Matthew furrowed his brow, _I… I don't remember him…_

"You were 16 when he disappeared. I think the reason you don't remember him is because you probably blocked out every memory."

The Canadian closed his eyes; all he remembered is that there was someone else other than his own brother, which Alfred would get angry at him for no reason because he didn't like being _'ignored'…_

He got up, not wanting to hear anymore when Ludwig suddenly grabbed his arm, "There's one more thing. There's one person, someone who had seen him last. The one who had forced Gilbert into a relationship because he didn't want to be with anyone other than you."

Matthew waited, looking into the icy blue eyes that were desperate,

"His name was Vanya Braginski."


	7. The Truth

****Bleh, I'm so sorry this took so long~ I hope this made up for it.

We have reached the climax! What will happen to our little Matthew now that he has a clue? Read and find out is all I can say!

Also, if I begin to post random songs like down there vvvv then it's because it is what I listened to when writing and maybe it'll help with emoti-blahh blah blaaahhhh

Obviously I don't own Hetalia, if I did... *shifty eyes*

Review, favorite and all that good stuff.

Jouir!

* * *

**Chapter 7**

**Same Day**

**The Plague - Prince Of Egypt (Multilanguage) **

Matthew Williams parked right outside the house and jumped out, tripping over himself but quickly re-stabled. Sprinting to the front door, he ran into it but slid down to the ground to catch his breath. His heart was beating so fast he thought it was going to explode. _Ludwig was lying, I just know it… What he said wasn't true, but he isn't one to lie! What do I do?_

He choked on a sob and covered his mouth, closing his eyes he took three deep breaths. The door suddenly opened and he fell through since he was leaning against it. Right before he fell to the ground, he got an armful of American.

"Mattie? Mattie, you okay?" Alfred held his twin brother in the doorway and tried to get his attention, but it seemed the Canadian was too far gone in thought that he didn't even see his brother right in front of him. "Mattie!"

Alfred shook Matthew's shoulders, slapping his cheek lightly. The blond jumped and grabbed onto the American's hand before it slapped him again. He had to tell Alfred! That's it, he will tell his brother.

Matthew got up and, still holding his twin's hand, he pulled him over to the car and motioning for him to get inside. The Canadian got in the driver's seat and pulled out, driving far away.

…..

The car sat in the middle of an empty parking lot, drops of rain hit against the glass of the windshield but it didn't drown out the sound of Matthew's voice as he told Alfred what Ludwig had told him.

It was getting late, the moon already in the sky and Matthew was afraid. He had left Arthur in the house with Ivan and Gilbert! But, maybe Ivan is innocent and Ludwig just has a grudge against him?

Ludwig just isn't one to lie, he wouldn't spread a rumor. Especially when his brother was involved. He remembered going to a funeral, he never remembered who it was that was in the casket.

The name on the head stone was fuzzy…

Matthew finished with what he was saying and Alfred just stared at him. The silence became to thick so the Canadian finally said;

"What do I do…?"

Alfred rubbed his temples and looked outside towards the downpour. It was now coming down so hard you could barely see a few feet away.

"I don't know, Mattie. But I always knew something was wrong with that commie bastard! And there's a fucking ghost in the house? JUST GREAT!" Alfred winced from the sound of his own voice but turned back to his brother, "We should call the police, they'll know what to do!"

"But we have no proof. For all we know, Gilbert could have been kidnapped. We don't know if it's Ivan." Matthew wanted to believe it was someone else but something in the back of his mind was nagging at him…

"Oh, c'mon! Then what now?"

"We should go back…"

Alfred said nothing for once and closed his eyes, leaning back into the passenger seat.

About an hour later of nothing but silence between the brothers's, the car pulled up to the house and Alfred got out, Matthew following. The American went to the porch and watched as his brother went over to the shed right next to the house and went inside.

Alfred waited and raised an eyebrow when Matthew appeared with a shovel. He walked away and towards the house when Alfred called out to him, "Where ya' goin'?"

"I have something I need to do."

Alfred nodded and said "Good luck," walking into the house.. He looked back to the car as it began to pull away from the house. "Just don't get hurt."

Once Matthew was far enough away from the house he pressed the gas pedal further and sped down the road. He didn't want to be out all night and he _needed_ to know for sure!

He has only been there once in his life, and not even recently. The only thought racing through his head is that his brother will be okay. That nothing will harm them.

It was closing on midnight when he stopped the car and jumped out into the rain. Immediately, his hair was soaked but he didn't care. Pulling out the shovel and hanging it over his shoulder, he ran up to the gate and pushed it open, looking at all the blocks of stone that jutted from the ground.

He let his legs carry him instead of thinking where he was going; he passed by many graves, careful to step around them and avoid the ground the dead were buried under. He stopped before a small grave,

**Gilbert Beilschmidt**

He touched the stone and tried to remember but he couldn't. It hurt to think about too much so he shook his head, mumbling, "I'm sorry, Gilbert," before he lifted the shovel and hit it to the ground.

He dug and moved the dirt to the side. The rain was making it a little hard to get through but he kept pushing through until the shovel hit something hard.

Throwing the shovel up, he moved the mud with his hands and stared at the dark wooded coffin.

_This is bad, why am I doing this?_

The thought didn't stop him, he used all his strength to open the lid and braced himself to find a bod-

Pictures?

The coffin was filled with hundreds of pictures, filled almost to the brim with a single dead rose lying on top. Picking up a picture, trying to shield it from the rain so he could see…

There, Gilbert stood next to his brother wearing a bright red hoodie, a yellow chick on the front. He wore white skinny jeans and a bright smile, eyes squinting as a hand was held up behind Ludwig's head, making bunny ears. The blond looked different. Younger, yes, but he didn't look so stiff. He seemed to enjoy being there and a small smile was splayed on his lips.

It was one of the only times Matthew had seen the German smile…

Another picture caught his attention because it held someone that looked familiar. Setting the picture of the brother's back into the coffin softly, he picked up the only one and gasped.

Gilbert was smiling but his eyes looked sad as he sat next to… Ivan. The Russian was handing a sunflower to the Prussian; a creepy smile contorted his features that never met his eyes.

Looking back down at the pictures, so many held both Gilbert and Ivan. He dug through them, panicking, all reasoning forgotten that he was defiling the grave.

Most held the brother's, but so many held Ivan… Ivan, Ivan, Ivan, _Ivan!_

He grabbed a hold of a picture, expecting to find none other than Ivan when he saw… Himself…

In the picture, Matthew was on Gilbert's shoulders. Looking no older than 6, he had his face stuffed into the white hair with a blush on his cheeks. Gilbert was smiling, a true smile that never showed in the pictures with Ivan.

A drop of water landed on the picture and Matthew realized it wasn't from the rain so he went to wipe the tears that were now flowing down his cheeks.

_I had this picture! But… But what happened to it?_

The first thing that came to mind was a fire…

"_Are you sure you want to do this, Mattie?" Alfred asked, turning to his brother who hasn't spoken a word since that day… _

_The Canadian nodded, his eyes concentrated on the fire before him. It was small, in the back yard of their father's house. He was close enough that he could feel the warmth coming from it, it reached for him and he was so tempted…_

_No, no he couldn't. _

_The flames sizzled and snapped when a picture was thrown inside, _

_A picture of Gilbert and himself, _

_Then another, and another… Every picture Matthew owned of the Prussian was now burning in the fire. The one picture, when he was on the shoulders of Gilbert at 6 years old stood out. He stared at it, the edges curled and turned black. _

_Slowly, the burns took over, taking more of the picture until all that remained was the two faces. Gilbert… Gilbert…_

My Gilbert…

_Matthew spoke the most words he had in an entire year, ever since Gilbert went missing…_

"_Now I can forget…"_

Matthew shook his head, dropping the picture into the coffin. He slammed it shut and hopped out, shoveling the dirt back into the grave. He felt numb, he remembered that day. The day he wanted to forget, the day he did forget…

He forgot all that he loved!

How could he _do_ that!

He had betrayed Gilbert, given up!

He didn't remember getting in the car or when he had started driving. The car seat was becoming damp from his soaked clothes and his eyes stayed on the road. He was surprised when he didn't get into an accident for all he was paying attention.

He looked at the radio in the car when he pulled up to the house; it was 2:38 AM.

Even though it was this late, every light in the house was on. But he saw no one walking or any shadows. The other two cars were still there so it means everyone is home.

Shutting the car off, he walked up the steps of the porch after locking the car doors and put a key into the door.

It wasn't locked… So Matthew opened it slowly and peeked inside. The only sound was the creak of the door and the TV that blared on static noise.

Something was wrong. Arthur would never allow Alfred to leave the TV on, no matter what. The Canadian looked around and saw a bloody hand print on the wall; it was smeared as if the person was pulled away from it.

He walked up to it and noticed blood on the ground and the streak of blood continued down the wall, up the stairs.

He had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach; Matthew was very worried but couldn't bring himself to walk any faster.

"Alfred?" he called when he reached the stop of the stairs and every light in the house turned off. He flinched when the darkness surrounded him.

He stood still, waiting for his eyes to get used to the darkness before he started walking forward again. He saw a limb on the ground, reaching out from behind a door. The hand was covered in blood and he was about ready to go see who was lying on the floor when he was pushed into the wall.

A large butcher knife thumbed into the wood right next to his face, cutting off a few strands of hair.

Matthew gasped before looking up into light violet eyes.

"I've got you now… My sunflower…"


	8. The Room

So, the story is going to be changed a bit. The ending, anyway. I talked with my friend, so my plan is being obliterated and a new one is taking it's place~ It'll come to fruition next chapter and if you have any questions about it, feel free to message me and I'll answer what I can!**  
**

Next chapter will be up soon, maybe today or tomorrow.

Enjoy !

* * *

**Chapter 8**

**Same Day**

**Theme of Nosferatu**

"I've got you now… My sunflower…"

Matthew stared wide eyed before he ducked from Ivan's fist which landed with a loud _**crack**_ against the wall. Matthew stumbled as he ran away towards the stairs.

_2:45 AM_

He could hear heavy footsteps behind him but he kept running and tried getting down the stairs fast. He tripped over himself and tumbled down the steps. Matthew figured he had hit his head when he felt a throbbing pain.

Landing on the first floor he groaned, trying to get up and looked behind him. The knife flashed in the dark as Ivan descended the stairs after him.

_2:47 AM_

Getting up quick when he saw the blood dripping from the tip of the butcher knife he ran to the door. Matthew attempted to grab the doorknob only to find that there wasn't one. He kicked the door and shoved it but it didn't move.

Ivan must have locked it.

Matthew was about ready to run at one of the windows to get out when a large hand grabbed his arm and spun him around. Once look at Ivan's face told him someone had fought back, a red bruise was already forming on his cheek and blood was drying around his nose.

The knife cut through the air and sliced Matthew's cheek, he cried out and pulled himself from the others grip. He took two steps away before he was tackled to the floor. The Canadian could feel something sharp digging into his stomach from the floor but tried to get away from the weight on his back.

Matthew turned slightly and elbowed Ivan in the face causing him to grunt and fall back. Matthew quickly got up and tried to run again when the same hand that grabbed his arm held onto his ankle, making him fall, once again, to the floor.

He kicked as hard as he could and felt his foot hit something hard and the hand around his ankle let go.

_2:50 AM. _

Sprinting to the kitchen, he slammed the door shut and brought over a chair, putting it under the doorknob to hopefully keep the Russian out. Although, he knew Ivan was stronger than that and had probably planned for this.

But he wanted to be alive for as long as possible…

And he wanted to find out what happened to his brother…

He ran over to the counters and opened up drawers to find a knife, but nothing. Not even a butter knife or any forks. Every piece of silverware was gone. Matthew looked at the block of wood that usually held the steak knives and the butcher knife Ivan had.

Those were gone as well.

"Damn it." Matthew cursed under his breath. He froze when he heard a chuckle come from outside the kitchen.

"Little sunflower thinks he can run from me, da? You have thought wrong…" Ivan's voice was higher than normal, more carefree and almost sadistically happy. A giggle followed his words before he spoke again, "You don't think I truly was sick, do you?"

_He wasn't sick? Then how did he-_

"Wondering about the doctor, da? Just a friend, Toris. He is a doctor, yes, but a _loyal_ friend…" A giggle, "Come out, sunflower. I promise I'll be quick about it…"

_2:55 AM_

Matthew turned and glared at the kitchen door, "Did you kill Gilbert?" He asked, his voice sounding stronger than he actually was.

The only response he got was the knife hitting the door, the tip of the blade going all the way through and pointing at Matthew. _Can he get through that easily? _

The knife was pulled out and the door shook when something hit it again. Matthew trembled, _it was Ivan! I knew it!_

The door burst open, the chair skidding across the floor and Ivan stood in the doorway, his head tilted to the side. His lips were curled into a childish grin and Matthew could practically see the man's aura drip off him and onto the floor.

The Russian stepped forward and walked towards the frozen Canadian but when he got close enough, the fist that had curled at his side launched up and landed right on the wound on Ivan's cheek.

He stumbled and Matthew was shocked that he could actually hit that hard but quickly getting out of the shock he ran towards the kitchen door. Those heavy footsteps following him once more.

_2:59 AM_

The air seemed to grow very heavy and Matthew coughed when he got up the stairs. It took a lot out of him to just run up those stairs and his blood froze when the air did.

He could see his breath.

Ivan stared at him from at the bottom of the stairs; he was glaring, the smile gone. Matthew had never seen the Russian look so scary. But that stare isn't what had glued his feet to the floor…

There was no sound in the house besides the _click-click-click_ of the clock as it neared 3 AM. Ivan stepped up the first stair and began to slowly go up to get to Matthew-

_**Ding, Ding, Ding.**_

The clock chimed as it did every hour. But this hour was different.

_The Witching Hour_

Everything became still. The air still thick and cold but not even the sound of Ivan's footsteps echoed in the empty hallway. Matthew couldn't even hear his own heartbeat.

_Dead Silence_

The house shook when an inhuman growl erupted from the walls. It reminded Matthew of a lion in a way, but it sounded more deadly, more frightening.

This made Ivan stop in his tracks.

Both men stared at each other, each in shock from the sound.

Matthew could hear a whimper come from behind him, from the room he had seen the arm hanging out from. _His brother!_

He started to turn and stepped towards the room but his arm was grabbed again. _When did Ivan get up the stairs so quickly?_

Matthew yelped, trying to pull away. The knife was pressed against his throat, cutting in. A drop of blood slid down Matthew's pale skin,

"Gilbert cannot save you, nor your brother…" Was whispered into his ear.

"_Think again"_ Came another voice, it was deep and radiated with anger. The knife around his throat fell to the ground and Ivan's body was pulled away from his. He heard tumbling from behind but ignored it when he went into the first door he could find.

Shutting it close, he leaned against it. The door was cold and… Metal?

He looked at it,

It was the door that was never able to be opened.


	9. Remembering

WOOO! New Chapter, I have quickly updated! *feels proud*

I'm really excited so I'll probably be updating super quick, I'm excited for the ending as much as those who read!

Also, I love all who have reviewed! Thanks so much, without you, I'd probably would have abandoned this story second chapter in. So thank you so much! Cheese, cheese for everybody!

Anyway,

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 9**

**In The Room**

**Secrets - The Pierces**

The room was cold; below freezing. Matthew's hands shook from the cold and his breath could be seen in front of him.

Matthew looked ahead of himself from the door. It was darker in here than the rest of the house, there was absolutely no light anywhere. He slowly got up and flinched when the light turned on and music filled the room.

A radio sat on a stool, it was old and the paint was chipping on it. It played a song Matthew had never heard before;

"_Why do you smile like you have told a secret? Now you're telling lies cause you have sworn to keep it."_

The voice filled the small space of the room and Matthew couldn't help but think it was a tad bit ironic.

He took a good look at the room; it was definitely something he hasn't seen before. A bed sat on the far side of the room; there were no blankets or sheets, only a lone pillow. A stand was next to it, a bag of fluids were on the stand, a leaking tube rested on the mattress with a needle, knife and whip. The mattress was blood stained, as were the walls. Which were decorated with other types of knives and other torture tools the Canadian has never seen.

A large wooden table decorated the middle of the room, a rusty scalpel was lying on it, ropes were also scattered across.

Blood was spattered on the wall in a grotesque manner, dried before it had reached the floor.

The light was yellow and it kept blinking on and off. The bulb hung down with no shade over it. It was old, a chain hung from it. But what caught Matthew's eyes was the cage sitting on the floor. Absolutely no light reached it, so he couldn't see inside.

Walking over to it, he bent down and wrapped his fingers around the bars. When he pulled, it gave away almost instantly. The cage was large and the only thing he could see inside so far was a leather strip.

Matthew reached out a shaky hand, grabbed a hold of the frozen leather and tugged. The strip was attached to something and when he pulled again, whatever it was rolled over and a pale hand fell out, limp.

The Canadian gasped, his hand flinging up and covering his mouth as he backed away as far as possible. The hand was covered in dried blood, scars and unhealed cuts decorated the hand. Matthew was about ready to pull himself under the table when he was able to see further in. A body was inside and he could see white hair peeking out into the light.

_Gilbert…_

Too afraid to go anywhere near the body, tears pricked at his eyes. It was Gilbert… Gilbert's body, he's dead. Matthew had found him. This isn't what he expected… No…

He felt a presence near him and somehow, it made him speak.

"I want to remember…" Matthew shouted as he grabbed at his head, legs folding up to his chest. "I want to remember you…"

…..

"_I won't be able to stay for long, da." Ivan smiled, looking at the man cowering in the corner, journal pressed against his chest._

"_As you well know, I have been seeing someone else for almost a year now."_

_Gilbert didn't respond only shook. The air was so cold, he could barely take in a breath and he wasn't even allowed to have a blanket, or clothes. "Oh, don't be that way, my little snow bunny."_

_Gilbert murmured._

"_What was that?" Ivan asked, walking closer to the Prussian._

"_I said, I'M NOT YOU'RE FUCKING SNOW BUNNY. Fucking dick! Go to hell!" Gilbert yelled but then winced, grabbing onto his head and whispered "ow" the cold has been giving him an endless migraine. He tries to refrain from speaking at all times. _

"_After four years, you still have fight in you, da?" Ivan chuckled, eyes sparkling as he waited for Gilbert to say more, but nothing came. It was then that he got an idea. _

"_Have I told you about my sunflower?" Gilbert said nothing. "As sweet as can be." The albino kept ignoring him, shivering as he stared at the ground in hopes of blocking out the stupid lump of muscle that wouldn't shut up. _

"_Seems like he has finally forgotten you, too" At this, the Prussian's head shot up, ignoring the pain in his head. This got his attention._

"_What?"_

Gotcha,_ Ivan thought with a smirk. "My sunflower, Matthew, was it?"_

_Gilbert growled, glaring, "You better not touch him, I'll fucking kill you!"_

"_Gilbert… Both you and I know that you can't even lay a finger on me without it being broken. I haven't hurt him… In the way I've been hurting you, anyway…" Gilbert's eyes grew wide, _my birdie!_ He thought but shook his head, _

"_I… I-I'll skin you alive you fucking monster…" Ivan only giggled in response, hiding his smile behind his gloved hand. _

"So_ intimidating, da…" The Russian brought up two fingers and motioned for the Prussian to come. Gilbert stood on shaky legs, white hair covering all of his forehead and most of his eye but it didn't cover the glare. _

_Ivan would never admit this, but that glare always sent a shiver down his spine. Of excitement, of course. _

_Despite how weak he felt, Gilbert ran forward with his fist poised in the air as he ran at the taller man. Ivan readied himself, a cheerful glint in his violet eyes when he looked into Gilbert's one eye. _

_The Prussian swung and hit Ivan's shoulder when he moved to slow, the Russian hissed but grabbed the back of the albino's hair and brought his face down into his knee. _

_Gilbert fell to the ground holding his nose. He was too weak to get back up, he had used all his energy to get up and run. "Must I always remind you of your place, Snow Bunny?" _

_Gilbert said nothing, just lie on the floor, staring at the wall as the blood dripped around by his head from his nose. It hurt, it hurt a lot but he couldn't do much about it, could he?_

"_We will be living here, shortly. I will visit you from time to time, da?" _

_Gilbert still didn't respond… Matthew, his Matthew will be in the same house as him… Verdammt, why couldn't he see him one last time? He'd do anything… _

_Matthew will be under the same roof as him and the Canadian won't even know…_

…_.._

_Ivan shot open his eyes when the front door was open and closed. Acting sick was hard work, he's been in bed for god knows how long and he was ready to finally get out. _

_All the others had left to work. Sitting up, he listened, waiting for the sound of the cars leaving. He got out of bed and changed his outfit. It was a simple one, one that he could dispose of easily. _

_Picking up the key that was hidden in the drawer next to his side of the bed, he left the room and went down the hall to the metal door that everyone claims 'can't be opened'. _

_He snorted, flipping a piece of metal that hid the keyhole, shoving the key inside he twisted it and smiled when the door opened. Pushing it open all the way, he went inside to find the room was empty. _

_Gilbert was still in the cage. _

_Ivan knelt down in front of it and looked inside, "Would you like some food?" _

_Gilbert said nothing, his left red eye glinted in the small like, almost glowing with hatred when he saw the Russian. He spit in his direction. He was covered in blood, the gauze that had been wrapped around his head to cover his right eye was falling off but Ivan didn't much care to change it. _

"_Nyet? Alright, then you will starve." _

"_W-wait!" Gilbert tried, but his voice was hoarse. Right now, he wanted water and at least something to eat. He wanted to live to see his Matthew one last time. _

"_Oh? So you do want food." _

_Gilbert nodded slowly, waiting for the thing he would have to do as trade but Ivan said nothing but got up and left the room, leaving the door wide open._

_If the cage wasn't fucking locked, Gilbert would have broken out and ran out. But… That damned bastard…_

_About 15 minutes later, Ivan came back with a paper plate and a glass of water. They were set down in front of the cage, in Gilbert's reach and he stood up. "You are lucky I am in a good mood, pet. Or I wouldn't have given this off so easily." _

_Gilbert didn't question it. But he waited until the Russian left before he devoured the sandwich on the plate and drank the large glass of water. _

_Ivan laughed when he shut the door behind him and locked it, he planned to keep the Prussian alive till one perfect moment…_

…_.._

Gilbert… Was alive while Matthew lived here? How had he not realized this? Matthew shook his head and then remembered something, Gilbert had kept a journal.

The presence of whatever he felt before was growing stronger and it was tugging him towards the corner where he had seen Gilbert shivering in that vision.

A pile of dark blue journals sat there, each worn out and the covers bent from a lot of use. Matthew picked up the one that sat on the top, it seemed to be the one he had seen with that vision…

He opened to a random page and began to read what was put there. The handwriting was the best he had ever seen, it was calligraphy, beautifully written but not what it was about…

_One day I will be set free…_

_And when I escape from this makeshift hell, I will strip your flesh in heaps like you stripped my dignity; I will revel in your screams and deny you survival. _

_I will remove your manhood and blind you with the claws of an imprisoned beast set loose upon the innocent; I will taste your putrid blood and laugh as you blunder about in the shadows like I have for so long. _

_I will rape you of your senses and take back what you took from me, _

_In the end I will cut your fucking tendons and break marrow you fucking bastard, you cannot possibly imagine the things I will do to you. _

_I will feed you your own piece and laugh as you choke on the blood, I will permanently stain you with crimson. _

_All in good time…_

_The dark spirit within this fucking raven will tear you apart and spread your ribs, and take your fucking heart and eat it in front of you like a bloody apple._

_I will taste freedom, and he will be in my arms again._

_But until that day I must plan, then your soul will be mine, you fucking commie bastard. _

_I will have vengeance and taste your vile blood._

It stopped there, a splat of ink covering the last sentence. Matthew stared at the paper, Ivan… Why would Ivan hurt Gilbert? Why? Gilbert never did anything and Ivan never did anything to hurt Matthew. Well, not until recently…

But there was another entry, one that almost compelled him to read…

_It's been over 4 years and I still haven't forgotten you. I remember the day we met. How I fell in love with you._

_You've completely forgotten me… Why? Why would you forget? I loved you, loved you so much._

_I still do! _

_I always will, even in death. _

_You are the most beautiful being in existence. _

_I understand that I am a crude, unsophisticated obnoxious savage… _

_But I can't control myself when around you, or when you are even in my thoughts. _

_Which is always… _

_Listen to me, I sound like a lovestruck teenage girl! _

_But I do love you, more than anything. _

_We made so many memories together, ones I will ever forget and I wish you never did either. _

_I promised to wait for you, but I left you._

_I'm sorry for that, too._

_Now that I'm gone I can still watch over. _

_Matthew, you are the love of my life through and through and though I miss you_

_I don't think I'll ever return. _

_My time as being in your life is over,_

_But I'll never forget you. _

_No matter how much I fade_

_No matter how much I am beaten_

_You were there for me._

_Somehow, I believed you loved me as well._

_You were my little birdie_

_You're still my little birdie_

_One that I can't stand to live without_

_But I'm afraid I have to leave you, its destiny_

_The Fates won't turn back time for me_

_It's like I'm trapped in an hourglass waiting for time to pass _

_For you to forget me_

_But I feel that you already have_

_Why?_

_Be happy now_

_Even though you know I'm gone_

_Just be happy for me_

_The ride home took a while you see_

_It took days and hours and memories_

_The memories of you as you grew up,_

_When you would lie in my arms._

_The blond hair and purple eyes that I used to see_

_Now gone._

_Over time it'll be like I never existed, never went extinct_

_I'm like the dinosaurs Birdie; no one knows who killed me_

_But you're strong, my love, you will survive_

_You will thrive and not stand in the unemployment line_

_Don't forget me_

_Though you can't even try_

_This albino man left his mark on the world_

'_Cause man,_

_I was awesome._

_I love you Birdie, I hope you haven't forgotten me._

_My time has come,_

_Goodbye for now._

Tears ran down Matthew's cheeks, Gilbert wrote this? About him?

"I love you too…" The words seemed to have came out of his mouth without him even trying to. He gasped when he said that, he still didn't remember much of Gilbert but his head hurt…

It hurt…

The hair on the back of his neck stood up.

He stood up, dropping the journal and ran to the door, opened it and ran out. His heart was beating so fast and he felt about ready to pass out. What was that? Matthew didn't want back in there, he wanted far away.

He hadn't been alone in that room.

Because, before he left, he had heard laughter.

Coming from the cage.

* * *

**Ah~ Cliffhangers~!**


	10. One Last Time

****Woo... Someone else's point of view! Yaya! Anyway, I know just _everyone_ was wondering what happened to our beloved hero! Here's a hint. Read down below.

Next chapter will be uploaded soon so do not fret, my dears!~

Obviously, Hetalia ain't mine, blaaaaaaahhhhhh

Enjoy, lovelies!

* * *

**Chapter 10**

**2 Hours Earlier**

Alfred Jones sat on the couch, remote in hand as he flipped through the channels. He was bored, very, _very_, bored. Ever since Matthew left, the house felt a little bit emptier than normal. But eh, nothing to get all worked up over, right?

A sigh escaped his lips; his elbow was propped up on the arm of the couch with his cheek resting against his fist. What could he do? Arthur's not here and either is Matthew.

The Briton had work today, it was the night shift; Alfred did not envy the older man. But the latter one went off to do god knows what and left the American here to fend for himself while the fucking commie bastard lie upstairs, sick and sleeping.

If that bastard needs water or food, he can get it himself. No way in hell is Alfred going to do _anything_ for him! He'd be out of his mind!

The blonde's shoulders began to slump and drool dripped from the edge of his bottom lip as his eyes drooped. It was late, only 1. But he was tired, he wanted to sleep but he wanted to wait for Matthew to get back. Whatever the hell the boy was doing was beyond Alfred!

Only, he was getting tired of waiting. So with that thought, his eyes closed and he drifted off to sleep.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::0::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Jolting awake, Alfred turned to the clock. It was just turning 1:50. He'd only slept not even an hour? Oh well. The TV was on static noise and the lights were still on, _and_ Matthew wasn't home yet.

_Where the hell is he?_ Alfred thought, stretching his arms above his head with a yawn.

His stretching was interrupted when a loud _**thump**_ was heard upstairs, startling the American. _Uh…_

Getting up slowly, he looked around the room to find his baseball bat in the corner where he had left it yesterday when he went to practice. Picking it up, he started towards the stairs and stopped to look up.

It was dark, very dark. The light only reached so high before it faded off into a pitch black that Alfred couldn't see into.

But he wasn't scared! Not at all, he was the hero! He'll hit whoever it is over the head and if it turned out to be Ivan, he'll just say the bastard was trying to corrupt his innocent mind.

Fucktard would deserve it.

The blond lifted his right foot and set it on the first step, wincing from the loud creak that filled the silent room. _Bad! This will be bad if he hears!_

Bringing up his other foot, he tried to not concentrate on the sounds the stairs were making as he stared up into the darkness.

Better not be a ghost! He'll kill it if it tries to pop out and scare him!

Finally at the top of the stairs, he heard the sound coming from one of the rooms but he couldn't figure out which one…

Then he saw it.

That one metal door, remember? Yeah, it was wide open and shadows were dancing around on the inside.

Alfred immediately pressed his back to the wall on the same side of the door and inched closer to it. His body began to shake, _O-Oh… It's just the wall! T-The wall is scared, hah, hah, I'll… I'll protect it though!_ He kept telling himself that. But once his breathing began ragged, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, counting down from 10 like Iggy told him to.

The American began to open his eyes-

"FFFUUU-AAHHH!" And swung the bat right smack dab into the side of Ivan's face.

Ivan tumbled to the floor and grabbed at the side of his face that had just been introduced to Alfred's now bloodied bat. "Oh, shit! Ivan, I'm sorry! You scar-startled me!"

The Russian's violet gaze fixed itself on the American and he smiled, staggering up. That hit really took a lot out of him; _the little boy is stronger than he looks, da?_

Ivan stepped over to Alfred, who had stepped back afterwards when he noticed the taller man was advancing. _Oh hell no! The commie bastard better no-_

Alfred fell to the ground after receiving a punch to the face and gave a small cry of pain. "F-fuck!" He shouted, grabbing onto his nose that had begun to bleed.

"Oh, I am sorry, Alfred. You startled me." He smiled sweetly,

"…Dick…"

"Mmm… Don't be that way, da. Here," Ivan held out his hand for Alfred to take and after a suspicious glare, the American hesitantly took the hand in which Ivan pulled Alfred up quickly and punched him back down to the ground. Once the blond lie on his back to hold his nose, Ivan settled himself with straddling the younger man's waist and pulling a knife out of his pants pocket.

"W-What are you doing!"

"Something I should have done a long time ago…" The smile was back, seeming to be a tad bit more menacing, if that were possible.

He brought up the knife but cried out when a loud smack rang through the hallway when the palm of Alfred's hand met Ivan's cheek.

Within the small moment Alfred had to get away, he had managed to get the heavy lug off of him and get up only to stagger into a wall. He glanced back to see the Russian getting up, clad in a glare and smile.

Once Ivan made it by the door, his eyes darted to the metal when it slammed shut and back to the man who jumped from the loud sound. _It seems someone has come out to play with us, Alfred…_ Ivan thought with a grin.

"Shit…" Alfred muttered, looking for anywhere to hide. He ran into his room where Ivan quickly followed and they danced around the bed. The Russian quickly got fed up with the little came of catch and leapt over the bed to the blond who yelped, getting out of reach.

The American ran out of the room and down the hall, glancing back to see that Ivan was following, _what am I going to d-_

Alfred realized that his foot somehow managed to find an area where there wasn't any floor, but stairs and miscalculated and fell face first into another step before stumbling down them.

After a few front flips and hitting his head against the stairs, he made it to the bottom where he lies until he heard the familiar creak of heavy footsteps descending the stairs. _Fuck, can I never get a break?_

Alfred groaned, arching his back as he attempted to sit up. Everything was hurting from that fall and his jaw was in pain as well. "Damn you."

Ivan chuckled, "Come on, Alfred. You can do more than that, can't you? Or have I misjudged…"

Alfred growled in annoyance. This was really beginning to piss him off.

Finally, he was able to stand up on shaky legs and look up into those evil violet eyes that glinted with sadistic pleasures. This man is _insane_. If only Mattie had listened to him sooner, this wouldn't have happened!

Before he could move or react, he felt something going through his stomach and blood immediately came up and out his mouth. Alfred coughed, trying to breathe through the pain that was now coursing through every single nerve in his body.

With his last bit of strength, he kicked Ivan in the nuts and staggered backwards when the larger mans hold on him went limp and he fell to the ground.

Even insane men are sensitive down there, remember that.

Coughing up more blood, Alfred pulled the knife out of his stomach and threw it to the ground. The blood was gushing out, coming out in a freaking stream and he had no way to stop it, he had no one to help.

"Arthur…" He gasped, limping over to the stairs. Alfred fell onto them and began to drag himself up them, _please help… I don't want to die alone…_

Pulling himself up once more, he grabbed onto the wall, blood from his hands smearing against it as he used it as leverage to walk down the hallway. His destination…

His and Arthur's bedroom.

"Iggy…" Alfred whispered, making it to the doorway. He walked only a few steps in before he collapsed on his back. But with a smile on his face, he had seen it. At least he had seen it. The picture of Arthur and him, only a few months ago, in front of a bar they had left…

"_Alfred! I want to go home! We have no time for any pictures!" _

The voice still rang clear in his head from that night when he had asked someone to take a picture of them. The bar was closing in only a few days after then and he didn't want to forget it before it was torn down.

"_Please, Iggy! Please, please, please!" _

"_Oh… Fine, only one!" _

The smile stayed on Alfred's lips as he closed his eyes. He got to see it…

He was able to see his Iggy one last time…

"I l-love you, Arthur…" He whispered before everything went black.

"_Yeah, I love you too… You git…" _


	11. In The Dark

****Ahhh... I am sorry about the wait! I had major writing block for this because I just couldn't become creative enough to Ivan's part but I found a little bit and this is what came out!

I hope no one hates me for this xD haha. But yeah, thank you for being patient! (Sorry if you weren't)

Also thank you for all the reviews and such :) I probably wouldn't of even continued this if it wasn't for you guys! haha.

Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia and am making no money off of it. This is simply for fun.

(I promise the next chapter will be done today. It will be the last one so yay! So close!)

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**Chapter 11**

**Present**

Matthew Williams kept running. Laughing? The hell was that! He was terrified, no, terrified didn't even sum up to how he was feeling at the moment. The ghost is fucking with him, that has to be it!

He went face first into a brick wall and fell backwards onto his butt only to look up into joyous violet eyes.

"Found you, Sunflower. Very naughty of you to be hiding in my room, da." Matthew glared at Ivan. This guy is a wack job! He scooted back away from the Russian as he stepped forwards towards the Canadian. "Don't run. Let's just forget about today, yes?"

"No."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I must have heard wrong. I thought you denied my request, but that can't be correct, can it?" Ivan smiled sweetly, his hands behind his back, hiding what Matthew assumed to be that knife from before. _Damn it, Matthew. Why didn't you grab a knife from that room?_

"You heard me, I said no." Matthew sneered, he was sitting on the ground but he _will not_ give into the man who killed Gilbert!

Ivan's eyes darkened and he brought out the knife that was behind his back.

"Bad choice…"

He stepped forward, smile still pasted on his lips but his eyes were narrowed, "I will have to punish you, da."

Just as he was about to run at Matthew, someone jumped onto his back, arm wrapped around his neck while the other covered and scratched at Ivan's eyes.

Alfred held on, using all his strength to choke out the larger man.

The American bared his teeth which were stained red with blood; the same liquid covered half of his face as he bit down hard onto the pale skin, making Ivan cry out.

Ivan ran back into a wall, making the leach gasp and let go as he slid to the floor. Blood was leaking from Alfred's stomach from earlier.

"Alfie!" Matthew cried when his twin coughed up blood. "No!" Ivan threw Matthew over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and carried him upstairs.

"L-Let him go, you-"

_**Thump**_

Once again, a loud thump was heard upstairs. It sounded like footsteps, really heavy ones. Then every door started to open and slam shut, over and over at the same time. Alfred stared at the kitchen door, as it was the only one that opened slowly.

Inside the kitchen was dark, he couldn't see passed the door. But something was in there and the American _really_ didn't want to find out, but right now… He can't exactly do anything about it.

Ivan stopped in his tracks, he was about to go upstairs but when the house started acting up, even he was a tad bit scared. Ghosts were unpredictable and this one wasn't particularly fond of him. The Russian watched the stairs as they began to start creaking under invisible weight, the thin layer of dust blew away from the heavy footsteps.

He didn't move, which he has no idea why he didn't, but the moment everything just stopped and everything was calm… Ivan could feel a cold air surrounding him, giving him goose bumps. But he didn't shiver, nor did he tremble in fear. He waited, waited for what was surely to come.

Still, nothing happened. Ivan looked around the dark house, and gave a slight jump when all the doors upstairs slammed shut one last time. When he turned to the kitchen, it was the only door left open.

A sudden gust of wind came from the stairs, strong enough that it blew Ivan onto his back and Matthew to fly away from him and groan when he hit the floor.

It had felt like hands pushed him. _Not good, da. _He looked back to the kitchen door, it didn't move. Ivan could hear Matthew and Alfred talking behind him in hushed whispers, but he didn't care. His attention was on that door, waiting.

When he was sure nothing would happen, he turned to see the Canadian trying to help up the American. He grinned as he got up to go get them when a deep growl emitted from the kitchen. Ivan froze, not moving. He didn't want to look back to the kitchen door this time, now that something was inside it and making itself known. A loud roar, much like a lion sounded out of the kitchen and shook the walls of the living room, nails digging into the wooden floors of the kitchen like being dragged. Alfred and Matthew covered their ears, it was too loud and hurt but Ivan didn't. Slowly, he turned to the kitchen and stared at it. Picking up his knife, he walked to it, thinking this idea will have nothing but a bad outcome; he walked inside, passed the door. The dark wooden door slammed shut with an unnatural sound before it locked.

Matthew stared at the door, _did Ivan just have a death wish or… _

"Mattie…" Alfred managed to breathe out, catching his brother's attention. Matthew turned back to his twin, moving sweaty and bloody hair out of his face.

"We're going to get you help, okay?" Alfred smiled at that, nodding slightly. He didn't feel like talking which was a miracle in itself. But it took too much out of him, he needed what air he could get to stay alive, not talk.

The floor boards settled, setting Alfred off. After all that happened, he had composed himself but that topped it off, ruining his self control.

Alfred started to hyperventilate, his hands shaking and a tear fell down his cheek. He was beyond scared, _no, no! Stay away from me!_ He yelled to himself, begging for that ghost to just… Stay where it was or leave at least.

"Alfred, it's okay! Calm down, please!" Matthew pleaded; pressing both of the palms of his hands to the sides of Alfred's face, "Look at me, come on. Deep breath." Alfred took a deep breath as instructed and struggled to keep looking at his brother, "Stay looking at me!" The Canadian stared into his twin's blue eyes, "You're alright… You'll be okay, just deep breaths…"

From Alfred's panic attack, the wound on his stomach started to bleed again and blood dripped from his bottom lip. Tears were running free from his eyes as he began to beg,

"Please, p-please, I-I want out of h-here!"

"Don't wo-"

The brother's froze when the front doors lock twitched from a key. The door started to open and green eyes peeked in, _Arthur._

"What the hell?" Arthur burst the rest of the way in when he saw blood and ran over to his lover, getting to his knees. He reached out his hands as if to touch him but he didn't know if he could.

"Hi, Iggy," Alfred smiled weakly. His once tan face was pale, blue eyes losing their lively color and turning darker.

"What happened?" The Brit turned to Matthew for answers,

"Ivan…" Was all the blond could answer, he figured it was him. It could only be him, Alfred may be clumsy but he isn't clumsy enough to fall onto a knife.

"I… I'll call the police and an ambulance!" Arthur said hurriedly, taking out his cell phone, dialing 911.

Matthew nodded; it'll take a while before any help came. But it was worth a shot; at least Ivan will be caught. Hopefully, and now Arthur is here to help take care of Alfred. He just wonders what is happening with the Russian right now…

* * *

"Show yourself!" Ivan shouted into the darkness. All he got in return was a deep creak that sounded like the house would be cut in half. "Coward…" He whispered and gasped when he was thrown onto his back.

He looked up and saw the dining table, a shadow darker than the rest was there and Ivan could _feel_ eyes on him…

A pale skeleton shaped hand moved out of the shadow and then another, blood covering the ground under its touch. The nails were black from bruises and those hands looked all too familiar to Ivan.

A chuckle echoed out from the darkness and Ivan slowly crawled back, eyes never leaving those hands when his back hit the refrigerator. The laughter got louder, causing the hands to shake in response.

The Russian was a _tad_ bit afraid of this ghost. His eyes flickered to the kitchen door and then the laughter just stopped. The fingernails on the pale hands grew until they were long and sharp. The ghost under the table moved out from underneath and slowly stood.

The white shirt it was wearing was torn to bits, splatters of blood covered the bottom and the matching white pants were torn at the ends.

The hair was white and shoulder length and the ghosts head was lowered so Ivan could see no face until the head tilted to the side slowly. The hair moved out from over an eye and half of the ghosts smile was showing.

The eye was glowing bright crimson red and in the ear splitting smile, Ivan could see razor sharp teeth. When it spoke, its voice was deeper and older sounding and had its own echo. It didn't move along with the lips;

"_You will die." _Were it's only words and in a flash it was over Ivan with a shrill scream and violet eyes widened but he couldn't produce any kind of sound. Then the ghost disappeared.

The Russian stood up slowly and looked around the dark kitchen for any sign of the ghost. A sharp pain came from his arm and he grunted. Looking at where the pain came from he saw blood and four deep cuts.

He looked back up into the darkness and heard a small giggle and some running soft footsteps before the same pain was now in his leg. He gave a small cry of pain and hopped backwards to press his back once more against the fridge.

Ivan growled, "Coward. Can't you show yourself and make this even?" Ivan shouted but there was no response but the air turned colder.

"_You do not deserve an even fight."_ An amused voice whispered into his ear and he spun to come face to face with the ghost, the hair was greasy and thin. But what scared Ivan was that the face wasn't even fully formed, it looked like half of the skin was torn off and while half of the lips were in a Chelsea smile, the other half was torn and Ivan could see gums and teeth that were sharpened.

The hands of the ghost grabbed onto his face, long nails digging into his cheeks when it seemed the jaw unhinged like a snake and it screamed. It was inhuman and caused Ivan to squeeze his eyes shut and grind his teeth.

Right now, he couldn't find his voice over the fear.

When he peeked an eye open, he saw the ghost was fizzing in and out before pain.

Pain radiated throughout Ivan's entire body and then he let out a scream.

* * *

Matthew continued holding Alfred close, trying to keep him awake. He was loosing too much blood and the wound wouldn't stop bleeding. His face was pale and his blue eyes were dark with death close by.

"You better stay alive, Jones." Arthur spoke. His voice wavered and he found it hard to keep an eye on the brothers. There was too much blood and he wanted to help. There were their cars outside but Arthur couldn't risk moving Alfred too much and hurting him further. What if he didn't make it to the hospital?

Matthew had suddenly stopped speaking to Alfred and his eyes drifted to the kitchen door. He could feel the temperature dropping and he was sure something bad was happening on the other side of the wooden door.

He just wasn't sure if he wanted to find out.

Then the scream. It was a lot like the one Matthew had heard when he was alone in the kitchen. It for some reason didn't hurt his ears. It was like he couldn't hear it but there it was. The sound seemed to be avoiding him.

Arthur and Alfred were the same way. Both now watching the door and Alfred was trying his best not to start a panic attack again.

"W-What is that?" Arthur asked and Matthew didn't respond. He couldn't bring himself too.

Then came a different scream. It was Ivan's and it was shrill. Like he was in a lot of pain but no body moved to help him. He deserves what is coming to him but it didn't stop the others from being scared. They've never heard of a ghost being able to do so much.

When it stopped and all was still, each let out a breath they didn't know they were holding. They flinched when suddenly flashing lights and loud sirens pulled up into the driveway. The lights flashed against the inside of the house, giving them enough light to see.

It wasn't pretty.

There was _a lot_ of blood.

There were a few car doors opening and right before they could reach the house, the kitchen door opened.

The three didn't even have a chance to blink before Ivan came running out. He was covered in blood from head to toe. The only color that wasn't red were his eyes that were bright with anger.

"You aren't leaving me!" He yelled and scooped Matthew up, causing him to let go of Alfred who let out a cry of pain. Matthew gave a small scream before his mouth was covered and a knife was at his throat. "I'm not going out without you." He whispered and tears weld up in the Canadian's eyes.

"Let him go!" Arthur yelled and was about to try and protect Matthew when he saw the knife pressed harder against the blonde's throat and a small bit of blood leaked from it.

Ivan didn't respond to the Brit and got ready to slice open Matthew's throat when there was a thump. Violet eyes widened and a bit more blood came from the Russian's mouth before he let go of Matthew and fell to his side.

In Ivan's back, was a long knife that the end of the blade peeked out from the Russian's chest. Matthew saw this and everything began to blur. He heard the front door open and people rushing in. He felt hands on him but the last thing he saw, at the top of the stairs, was a blur of white before everything went black.


	12. Epilogue

****Meh. I know it isn't that great. I didn't have too many ideas or inspiration. But this is the end! Woo... A finished story!

Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia nor am I making any money off of this. It was for fun.

(Now I know it wasn't too great of a story, I've improved in my writing skills but it's been awhile since I've been able to finish this and I kind of lost my mojo for it. I will be making my own story. It will not be posted on here because it's with my own created characters. Message me if you would like to read it and I'll send you a link~)

* * *

**Epilogue**

_1 Year Later_

"Fuck, I almost had it!" The blue hedgehog on the iPhone died when it hit a fish and restarted to the beginning. "This game cheats."

_**Bump.**_"Hey watch it, dummkopf!" He yelled to the person he just ran into and they scowled at him. Which, in turn, he flipped them the bird.

_Back to my game…_ Right as he was about to start it, the iPhone started to ring and a picture popped up. Clicking the green bottom, he held the phone up to his ear.

"Gilbert, hurry up! You're going to be late. Alfred and Arthur are already here." Matthew scolded and Gilbert rolled his eyes.

"Ja, ja, Birdie. I'm almost there, see. I see you right now!" Gilbert waved to the Canadian who was sitting in a café with two others and Matthew's eyes found the Prussian's.

He waved back and Gilbert hung up, looking back and forth on the street, saw no cars and jogged across and went inside the building to fling his arms around Matthew's shoulders and kiss his neck. Alfred stuck out his tongue in disgust and Arthur rolled his eyes at Alfred's childish behavior.

The albino sat down next to Matthew and was handed a cup of Chai tea which he happily took.

"So…" Gilbert started.

"We are thinking about moving to London, Arthur's home." Alfred said and took a drink of his Americano.

Arthur smiled at that. He missed being in the United Kingdom.

Gilbert seemed to debate this a bit. "Ja, anything is better than here. I've kind of lost any kind of interest I held for America." He laughed his…_unique…_laugh.

"Anyway—"

…..

So, I know what you're thinking. How the hell is Gilbert alive? This is how. You know that ghost? His name was Winter. He has been bound to that house for over a hundred years ever since he was murdered inside it.

He was left there for a purpose which he didn't know what purpose that was. When Ivan came with a young man named Gilbert, he figured they were just going there for a rump like all the other teenagers did when they found the house.

He was wrong.

Winter had watched in horror as Gilbert was tortured by the large Russian. At the time, he could do nothing but when the man was left there and Ivan left, they would speak.

Winter found that they used to be dating and he wanted to break it off because he was in love with another man and was forced into the relationship with Ivan. Before he could, he was captured and held in the Room.

He went through many different types of torture, lost much blood and at times, Ivan would stop hurting him and nurse him back to health just to start again with the beatings.

When Ivan moved in with three others, he had the sick pleasure of making himself sick and when everybody was gone, go into the Room and taunt the man about how he would kill Matthew before the end of the year.

Winter had promised to help.

Gilbert was highly malnourished, thin and very frail. He had enough strength to kill Ivan before he could kill Birdie.

That day, Ivan was pronounced dead by the doctors and was put in morgue. Matthew was happy to be rid of him and of course the others were too.

Alfred had went through surgery to fix the stab wound and is now healthy and happy.

Gilbert will never be fully healthy but he was strong enough to move passed the scars and live a happy _normal_ life with his Birdie.

Until…

…..

"Sister."

"Yes, big brother?"

"It seems I have failed, da… I wasn't able to pull through."

"…Don't worry, big brother. I will finish what you started…"


End file.
